This application claims priority to two applications, the one entitled xe2x80x9cGame Pad Connected To Personal Digital Assistantxe2x80x9d filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Apr. 18, 2001 and assigned Serial No. 2001-11031, and the other entitled xe2x80x9cGame Pad Connectable To Personal Portable Terminalxe2x80x9d filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Jun. 7, 2001 and assigned Serial No. 2001-31774, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electronic game device, and in particular, to a game pad connectable to a personal portable terminal such as a mobile phone and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) for playing a game.
2. Description of the Related Art
As personal portable terminals like mobile phones and PDAs have increasingly been popular, diverse functions and designs are embodied in the personal portable terminals. They become smaller, more lightweight, and more diverse in function.
In order to satisfy the customers"" diverse demands, the personal portable terminals must be less bulky and operate given functions (e.g., games, stock quotes, and digital camera).
Along with the trends, data communication is added to the personal portable terminals. Furthermore, with the introduction of advanced additional functions like PC (Personal Computer) synchronization and GPS (Global Positioning System), the personal portable terminals become composite terminals.
A wide LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) module is provided on the frontal surface of a body in a personal portable terminal to help data communication. As a result, conventional key buttons are replaced with scroll keys and the LCD module is reconfigured to operate in a touch screen way. Therefore, a user enters data by touching the LCD module directly.
This personal portable terminal is very inconvenient to manipulate for a game. The inconvenience is worse when key buttons are scaled down and operate on a scroll basis.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a game pad with a plurality of key buttons, connectable to a personal portable terminal, which is easy to manipulate for an electronic game.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a detachable game pad which is easily removable from a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) for portability.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a game pad for increasing interest in using a personal portable terminal and playing an electronic game.
The foregoing and other objects can be achieved by providing a game pad connectable to a personal portable terminal. According to one aspect of the present invention, each of a left handle and a right handle has a plurality of key buttons in the game pad. A mounting portion is formed between the handles and holds the personal portable terminal. A guide rib is formed along the upper ends of both sidewalls of the mounting portion, for guiding both ends of the personal portable terminal. A connector is formed on an end portion of the mounting portion to be electrically connected to an interface connector of the personal portable terminal and selectively detachable from the personal portable terminal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an interface interfaces the game pad to the personal portable terminal in the game pad. A keypad has a plurality of keys, for generating key data to a pressed key. A vibrator has a vibration motor, for generating vibrations upon receipt of a first operation control signal. A voice processor has a sound source chip and generates effect sounds upon receipt of a second operation control signal. A controller controls the operations of the function blocks of the game pad, feeds the key data received from the keypad to the personal portable terminal via the interface, and outputs the operation control signals to the vibrator and the voice processor according to a sound signal and a vibration signal received from the personal portable terminal via the interface.